SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Central New York Community Foundation announced that it has recently awarded a fourth round of grants from its Black Equity & Excellence Fund. The foundation says it awards grants from the fund to “support Black-led nonprofit organizations and projects that counteract systemic racism.” The CNY Community Foundation provided the following descriptions […]
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Central New York Community Foundation announced that it has recently awarded a fourth round of grants from its Black Equity & Excellence Fund.
The foundation says it awards grants from the fund to “support Black-led nonprofit organizations and projects that counteract systemic racism.”
The CNY Community Foundation provided the following descriptions of 17 grants, totaling $240,000, that it distributed to recipients from the Black Equity & Excellence Fund:
• 10 Less received $10,000 to host conferences designed to educate youth about historic civic leaders in their community, while promoting careers within the judicial system.
• 100 Black Men of Syracuse was allocated $55,000 to launch the Youth Empowerment Program, a bi-weekly academic mentoring program offered throughout the school year for 4th- to 8th-graders.
• AFICA received $5,000 to host demonstrations to teach community members how to grow plants and use them to create healthier natural beauty care products.
• Cuse Connection was granted $10,000 to provide scholarships and student recognition awards to college-bound high school seniors.
• Doula 4 a Queen received $10,000 to expand its healing and training services for Black families to help improve their experiences before, during, and after birth.
• Focusing Our Resources for Community Enlightenment was provided $25,000 to support the Ready Syracuse Expansion Project, which trains and educates Black residents in emergency preparedness by engaging them in the civic life of the community.
• Half Hood Half Holistic received $10,000 to provide Black communities with access to mental-wellness support in areas of maternal mental health, relational health, and men’s mental health.
• J&L Consulting gets $10,000 to provide affordable consulting services and Mental Health First Aide Training to Syracuse’s Black community.
• J.H.Rolling Arts Education Leadership Strategies was allocated $10,000 to launch the Art of Repair Teen Central New York Workforce Initiative for Neighborhood Success, a neighborhood-revitalization effort led by local Black youth in their neighborhoods.
• The Kia Foundation received $15,000 to launch the Pet Wellness and Care Workshop, which will provide an opportunity for Black pet owners to learn about pet-behavior training, proper feeding, pet grooming and spraying and neutering.
• Living While Black Exhibition was provided $10,000 to create the Living While Black exhibition that consists of quilts and video of spoken word and dance that address many challenges Black residents experience in the U.S.
• NRJ Consulting received $10,000 to provide three months of communications consulting for a local nonprofit organization in need of communications support.
• The Nile Dayne Foundation was granted $21,000 to hire retired educators to tutor students in education and teach them about financial fitness.
• PGR Foundation received $10,000 to support the Youth Leadership and Public Speaking Ambassadors programs, which helps young girls develop their communication, presentation, and leadership skills through practical experiences.
• Soul Filled Art was allocated $14,000 to help women of color recover and heal from past negative experiences by giving them the opportunity to share their life challenges, traumas, and mental-health experiences through the creation of African Diaspora Ancestral Art Forms.
• Syracuse Chapter of the Junior Frontiers of the Mohawk Valley received $10,000 to bring students on a tour of historically black colleges and universities in Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
• Syracuse Strong Amateur Football Club was granted $5,000 to launch a program for youth from the inner city of Syracuse to learn the skills and abilities it takes to be a leader both on and off of the football field.
The CNY Community Foundation is a public charity established in 1927 that receives contributions from donors, manages them to grow over time, and then distributes funding to local charities to help them thrive. It is the largest charitable foundation in Central New York with assets of nearly $400 million and has invested more than $250 million in community improvement projects since its inception.
The Community Foundation’s Black Equity & Excellence Fund was launched in June 2020. Since then, the fund has disseminated more than $800,000 in grants to Black-led organizations.